


Late Summer Warmth

by EarlineNathaly



Category: Trolls (2016)
Genre: F/M, buckle up children this time is not only fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-07
Updated: 2016-12-07
Packaged: 2018-09-07 04:40:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,486
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8783506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EarlineNathaly/pseuds/EarlineNathaly
Summary: Humans!AU. Poppy is babysitting Mr. Dinkles for a couple of days. Everything was laughs and fun until she locked herself out in her own backyard at 5 a.m. in the morning while taking him to tinkle. Good thing she could throw pebbles to her (crush) neighbor’s window who happened to have a spare key to her house. If it wasn’t embarrassing enough, just wait until you have to face him wearing lacy pajamas.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I have two "human AU" fanfics and this is one of them. Let me know if you like it and if you'd like to read the other one :) (Not the same story). And without further ado, enjoy.

The thing about late summer nights is that sometimes they reminded you fall was just around the corner and other times they reminded you it was still summer. Other times, like this one, it seemed that the weather just couldn’t decide.

 

Why was it a problem? Because Poppy liked to sleep under the covers to feel it was fall, or at least close to it, and she couldn’t do it if it was still hot enough to get her sweaty if she did. In order to avoid this, she opted to wear one of the nightgowns she wore during the hottest part of summer so she could throw the fluffy, heavy covers she loved to use during fall and winter.

 

And there she was, warm and cozy, sleeping and dreaming about cupcakes and rainbows, and perhaps some grumpy guy that caught her eye when Mr. Dinkles the Chihuahua woke her up licking her face.

 

She rolled to her side, groaning. But the Chihuahua didn’t give up. He kept licking her face and whining until she opened her eyes. He had to go.

 

Poppy finally sat up and rubbed her eyes. Mr. Dinkles jumped off the bed and she put on her fluffy, hairy, pink slippers, missing immediately the warmth of the covers. She hugged herself and walked lazily out of her room and down the stairs. She opened the kitchen door to let Mr. Dinkles out so he could go and empty his tiny bladder, but of course, he first had to sniff everywhere deciding where to pee.

 

Poppy yawned and hugged herself tighter. It was windy outside and the breeze was cold. She should have brought a sweater or the pink hoodie she left on her desk chair. If she had known Mr. Dinkles woke up every day this early in the morning to pee, she would have thought about it twice before accepting to babysit him.

 

No, that was a lie. She would have done it anyways.

 

Biggie was out of town and he would be for the rest of the week. They were already on vacations from high school but one of his relatives outside town got hospitalized and he had to go and be there for them. And since most of his time he would be in the hospital, he couldn’t bring his beloved pet with him. The separation was hard and Poppy knew it. The least she could do was look out for Mr. Dinkles until Biggie returned.

 

The Chihuahua finally did what he had to do and just when they were ready to return to bed, an especially strong gust of wind shut the door with a bang.

 

Poppy was suddenly very awake. Not only because of the noise but because the door could not be opened from the outside.

 

“Oh, no no no!” she rambled, starting to panic, running to the door and trying in vain to open it.

 

She was alone in the house. Her father was out of town due to business as he sometimes was, being the mayor and all. She couldn’t get inside her own house. She was going to freeze to death.

 

She lifted her hands to her head and pulled her dyed pink hair. What was she gonna do?

 

She paced in her backyard for a few moments when an idea occurred to her. She raised her gaze to one of the windows of the house next door. It was close enough that she sometimes had had conversations with the owner of the room of that window while being in the backyard. Of course, it had been during the day and when said window was open and she wasn’t wearing a nightgown that left her shoulders and her thighs for everyone to see.

 

But then another gust of wind hit her with its cold, and it felt as icy needles bit her skin giving her goosebumps, so screw it. If someone was going to see her like this, it might as well be him. Perhaps he would wake up and finally make a move on her.

 

She picked some pebbles from the ground and started to throw them at his window.

 

“Branch!” she shouted as quietly as she could. The last thing she needed was for some other neighbor to hear her. “Branch, wake up! I need you!” Hearing herself, she blushed. “I need your help!” she rectified. “Branch! I know you can hear me, please!”

 

Thankfully, the blinds opened and then the glass.

 

“Poppy, it’s five a.m. in the morning, what do you want?” a very sleepy Branch grunted putting his head out of the room.

 

“I _need_ ,” she emphasized that word, “for you to grab the spare key you have of my house and come open the door for me. I locked myself out.”

 

Branch blinked a few times, finally spotting her in her backyard. She was hugging herself, a blush making her freckled face look almost as magenta as her hair, which was dancing wildly in the wind. She was wearing a nightgown that could kill him from a heart attack.

 

He blinked again.

 

“You what?” he asked, dumbly. He was clearly still dreaming.

 

“Branch, for the love of God! Hurry up, I’m freezing!” she screamed.

 

He jumped out of the bed, which was beside the window, and tripped on his way to the drawer where he kept the spare key he and his grandma had from the neighbors. He tried to not make any noise while leaving the house so she wouldn’t wake up and hurried to the home next door.

 

This was seriously the most bizarre dream he had ever had, at least about her. And the fact that he kept dreaming of Poppy only made him anxious. If she ever found out…

 

When he finally opened the door of her kitchen, she was already standing close to it, carrying the Chihuahua he knew she was babysitting on her arms. It jumped out of her hands and ran inside at the same time she stepped through the door, crashing against him.

 

“About time!” she complained.

 

She was about to run upstairs too, like Mr. Dinkles, when she felt his warm hands touch her frozen, naked shoulders as a reflex when she bumped into him. It was _delicious_.

 

She felt his warmth through the flannel pajamas he was wearing and couldn’t pull away. She grabbed his shirt and groaned almost in agony when yet another gust of wind closed the door shut again. She was shivering violently, so she nuzzled his chest vigorously, making him take two steps back.

 

“You’re warm. P-please, hold me.”

 

The iciness of her skin made him doubt if this was a dream or not, but oh, if it was he didn’t want to wake up. They had been flirting with the line between friendship and more for almost too long now. And even if he was dying to cross that line, he had been holding back for a lot of reasons. They didn’t seem too valid right at that very moment.

 

He rubbed her back trying to warm and comfort her, and she sighed.

 

“That’s better” she sighed. “Tighter, please.”

 

He did as he was told without complaints or teasing remarks, Poppy realized. He was probably still half asleep. She giggled quietly, decided to make the best of the situation. He smelled like clean laundry and sleep. It was amazing. She could get used to falling asleep in that place easily.

 

When she stopped shivering, she lifted her eyes to his sleepy face. Dark hair and light eyes. Even sleepy he was cute, perhaps even more so because of it.

 

“If you stay ‘till morning, I’ll make pancakes,” she whispered.

 

“It’s already morning,” he pointed out, but let his head fall on top of hers.

 

“A reasonable hour in the morning. I’m not waking up yet,” she said, closing her eyes again.

 

He grunted. He didn’t want to walk back to his bed. It seemed so far away.

 

“Fine, but you’ll have to explain to my grandma why I’m out so early and without even informing her I was leaving”

 

“Oh, shut up. She loves me. I’ll make her pancakes too.”

 

He didn’t say anything else.

 

Poppy dragged him upstairs. She couldn’t believe he was actually following her. When he wasn’t drunk with sleep he made a big deal out of everything, even holding her hand. She smiled satisfactorily when he dropped his head on one of her pillows and fell asleep almost immediately. She slipped beside him and snaked her arms around his torso. She almost squeaked when he squeezed her closer.

 

So sleepy Branch was not only willing but also a cuddler, huh? She saved the information for future reference. Smiling and taking a deep breath of his scent, she closed her eyes contently. It was official, after breakfast, they wouldn’t be just friends anymore, or her name wasn’t Poppy Queen.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> We need more AUs where Grandma Rosiepuff is still alive.


End file.
